Singapore Airlines said it has banned Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 mobile phones from all its flights and any passenger carrying one will not be allowed to board its planes.
The US Department of Transportation has issued an emergency order banning the devices from aircraft in the US as of Saturday 1600 GMT.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has recalled its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphones worldwide because of incidents of the phones emitting smoke or catching fire, dealing a huge blow to the company’s reputation.
Singapore Airlines said on its Facebook page that “the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone will be prohibited from being brought on board all our flights in person, in carry-on baggage or checked-in baggage with effect from 16 October.”
Passengers caught attempting to travel with the phones will have the phones confiscated and may face fines, the US Transport Department said.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission says there have been nearly 100 reports of batteries in Note 7 phones overheating in the US. One fire erupted on a Southwest Airlines flight earlier this month. In another case, a family in St. Petersburg, Florida, reported a Galaxy Note 7 phone left charging in their Jeep caught fire, destroying the vehicle.
The Federal Aviation Administration had previously warned passengers not to pack the phones in their checked bags and to power them off and not charge them while on board planes.
“We recognize that banning these phones from airlines will inconvenience some passengers, but the safety of all those aboard an aircraft must take priority,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “We are taking this additional step because even one fire incident inflight poses a high risk of severe personal injury and puts many lives at risk.”
Samsung said in a statement that it is working with the department to make customers aware of the ban. 
The company also urged Note 7 customers to get a refund or exchange their phones by visiting their phone service provider or retail store.
The Note 7 isn’t the only gadget to catch fire thanks to lithium-battery problems, which have afflicted everything from laptops to Tesla cars to Boeing’s 787 jetliner. 
At least three US airlines are adding new fire-suppression equipment to fleets in case a cellphone or laptop battery overheats, catches on fire and can’t be extinguished.
Rechargeable lithium batteries are more susceptible to overheating than other types of batteries if they are exposed to high temperatures, are damaged or have manufacturing flaws. 
Once overheating starts, it can lead to “thermal runaway” in which temperatures continue escalating to very high levels. 
Water can extinguish the flames, but doesn’t always halt the thermal runaway. Flames will often reappear after initially being quenched.
Lithium batteries are ubiquitous in consumer electronic devices. Manufacturers like them because they weigh less and pack considerably more energy into the same space than other types of batteries.
Earlier this year, the International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN agency that sets global aviation safety standards, banned bulk shipments of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries as cargo on passenger planes until better packaging can be developed to prevent a fire from spreading and potentially destroying the plane.

Source: Arab News